5th Bite - The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

[badladyscramble]

[Early Monday morning, Remilia finds a package on her doorstep. Having long since decided it's no use fretting over these things, she opens it immediately - and as realization spreads in her mind, she grins wickedly and heads for the roof. Finally, something that can go right...]

[Action - All Day Monday, Around Town]

[Throughout the day, hints of red mist start to fill the town, spreading around out from Ricardo Street. Also throughout the day, Remilia can be found walking around with her parasol or at her usual hangouts (Sakuya, Flandre and Meiling's houses), seeming a lot more upbeat than usual and grinning far more than is possibly normal. She seems very pleased with herself.]

[Action - All Day Tuesday, Around Town]

[Now the town is entirely drowned in Scarlet Mist, cutting out much of the sunlight and leaving what's left of it deep crimson. Most people can only see a few yards, but Remilia has no trouble navigating through the red cloud that covers even over the tallest houses and buildings. Delighting in her freedom from the sun, anyone in the mist might hear a delighted, wicked laughter or spot a dark shape with large, bat-like wings flitting about through the mists. Feel free to call her out, or maybe she'll stop by herself when she sees those rendered helpless or frustrated by their surroundings.]

[Phone - Tuesday Evening]

Ahh, the world's so much better painted in red! Truly, a devil's delight. Much better than the boring white of all those houses and picket fences, don't you think? But~ I'm sure there are some of you who disagree, don't you?

You're welcome to come and find me if you dare to argue - the Scarlet Devil won't refuse a fun date~ Especially from a certain red-white miko, hmm? It's going to be a fun night.

[Action - Tuesday Night, 506 Ricardo]

[And in a relatively clear patch of the mist, Remi is standing on top of the roof of her house, posing dramatically with her wings out and hands folded before her chest, awaiting the night's entertainments. The thinning mist above her paints the moon a deep red, making for quite the silhouette.]

Hmhmhm, I wonder if she'll come~

[OoC: The Scarlet Mist mini-event has begun! The details can be found here, but basically red mist will begin filling the town on Monday; by Tuesday Morning, most of the town will be so covered in red mist, you can't see more than a few feet to a few yards at most. Feel free to respond to any of the prompts or make your own posts complaining about/dealing with the red mist.

It all goes away Tuesday night at midnight, after Marisa beats the crap out of her, so for anyone who fights her, just know she's either going to win or escape since her fight against Marisa will be the last one.

You can also come fight her faithful servant, Meiling, over here, as it's a midboss's gateguard's duty to take on anyone who wants to challenge the final boss.]

Comments

[badladyscramble]

Oh? What a devoted follower I've gained! I wonder if you'll follow me to the ends of the earth?

[Or at least the park... that sure is the treeline of the forested section of the park approaching. And at just the right height for Bazett to run into]

[answerer_sword]

[Bazett silently curses as they approach the treeline. If she held on to the pole, then she would surely be slammed into a tree. However, if she let go, she ran a risk of losing her weapon and her prey.]

[She makes her decision seconds before she crashes into a tree. She lets go of the light pole, but with a quick spell, enables herself to start running up the tree trunk. Once she gets to the topmost branches, she uses her Reinforced legs to hop into the branches of another tree. It takes around four hops for her to catch up the pole tearing through the forest.]

[Another hop lands her on the currently diagonal pole. As she starts slipping, she braces herself starts running up the pole. After a couple of steps, she makes one final leap, this one directly into the air.]

[Even with her magecraft, she will only be able to remain in the air at the same altitude as Remilia for a few seconds at best. However, she hopes that the small time interval will allow her to lauch a decisive attack.]

[badladyscramble]

Oh? So she fancies herself a cat now?

[Remilia seems fairly amused and content to let Bazett catch up with her and come running up the pole. Still, when Bazett leaps off it and at her, the vampire quickly flies up even higher and hopefully out of the way]

[answerer_sword]

[Bazett punches...and only manages to swipe Remilia's skirt. It takes a patch off of the material, but makes no contact with Remilia's body.]

Damn.

[She quickly recites a spell to slow her descent so she would not be injured upon landing. Once on the ground, she takes off in pursuit of her pole again.]

[badladyscramble]

Ugh, just how long is this thing going to follow me... the pole too?

[She made sure to complain loudly enough that her pursuer could hear her as she started to fly back over the park, trying to get rid of the pole]

[answerer_sword]

[By this time, Bazett has managed to grab on to her pole again.]

Until it hits you.

[This time, she properly balances herself as she swings the pole at Remilia.]

[badladyscramble]

Does touch count?

[Because that's Remilia kicking off it at the last second - it sends her into a bit of an ungraceful spin, head over heals, but seems to have done little damage]

[answerer_sword]

[The sudden change in direction from Remilia's kick unbalances Bazett, knocking her on her back. However, she still manages to hold on to her weapon. The pole suddenly reverses direction again as Bazett gets up, sending her falling on her face. Then, it chases after Remilia, dragging Bazett behind it.]

Ack--!

[badladyscramble]

Oh, I guess not~

Well, you're welcome to turn it off any time~ As amusing as watching you, this game is starting to bore me~

[answerer_sword]

[She hates to admit it, but her opponent's suggestion is reasonable. When she finally stands back up, she pulls the pole back and wipes the rune away with one quick motion.]

[Without pausing, she now starts running after Remilia's silhouette. At what she believes to be a close enough distance, she stabs the light pole into the ground and jumps as hard as her Reinforced legs will allow her to.]

[Once again, she soars into the air. Her attack will last only a split second, but hopefully, she will have better luck this time.]

[badladyscramble]

[Not exactly... sadly, running and jumping and pole-vaulting makes for a rather predictable flight path, so Remi will just dodge to one side, safe barring any mid-air trajectory changes]

[answerer_sword]

[Upon her opponent dodging her attack, Bazett turns and, as she falls, fires off a Gandr spell. Such curses are not her forte. Indeed--though she has the power to make it into a Fin shot in that it carries concussive force alongside its health-draining curse, it would probably only distract the opponent for a little bit. She is clearly desperate since she is resorting to such an attack.]

[She chants another spell as she falls closer to the ground, grabbing a tree branch before she can land and flipping to stand on the branch. She squints upward to observe the effects of her desperate shot.]

[badladyscramble]

Hm?

[WELP, being that she only dodged Bazett by the barest margin and wasn't expecting projectiles, she's just hit by it full force, sent spinning through the air, eventually righting herself and flapping about angrily]

Tch... such an annoying pest!

[answerer_sword]

[At this time, Bazett springs forward again, using the tree branch as leverage.]

Got you.

[badladyscramble]

[Whatever curse was on that hit is annoying, but it hasn't hampered Remilia's speed yet, so she keeps out of Bazett's range]

Hardly.

[answerer_sword]

[By now, Bazett's attack pattern is obvious--spring up, punch, land in a tree, and jump again. This time, upon landing, she decides that she needs some way to restrain the vampire. So, instead of immediately jumping up, she pulls off her outer jacket and rips it into shreds, tying them together into a rope of sorts. She then inscribes it with the Berkana rune as well as the Thurisaz rune for structural integrity and the Raidho rune for speed.]

[After she is done, she springs up after Remilia's silhouette again. Once again, her strategy seems to be the same--jump and punch.]

[badladyscramble]

[Of course, Remilia was watching the whole time she prepared that thing. Not wanting to be caught by it and feeling irritable from the life-draining curse, she flew up much higher this time, not wanting to fall for the same trick twice]

That has to be the most insulting weapon I've ever been assaulted with.

[answerer_sword]

[This time, as Bazett falls, she snaps the makeshift rope at Remilia, hoping for two things--that it would snag the vampire and that it would stay in one piece. It had been her goal all along. If she could simply catch Remilia, then it would become much easier to hit her.]

[badladyscramble]

[If Bazett held on to one end, then Remilia was staying plenty far away. If she actually threw it though, it ended up catching her around the ankles, hobbling them together - a lethal snare... if she weren't flying]

[answerer_sword]

[Bazett had originally held one end, but the Berkana rune causes the rope to follow Remilia so quickly that it almost dislocates her arm. She is forced to let go and land once again. However, it does make tracking Remilia easier as she can feel her own prana.]

[As she lands and feels for the Dead Apostle, she notices something strange. It is not any particular physical or mental sensation. Rather, it is the lack of any sensation. Despite bouncing around for so long in the mist, she is not experiencing any perceptible consequences.]

Why...

[badladyscramble]

Why, what? Are you getting bored yet? If so, please remove this obnoxious fetter.

[Remi's flapping about, clawing at the coat fastened to her ankles]

[answerer_sword]

You are flying. Such a fetter does not impede your movement.

[She looks up at Remilia.]

I am done attacking. Your turn now. Attack me.

[She has a theory that she wants to try out. From the very beginning of the fight, Remilia's behavior had been more consistent with one whose aim was to maintain the mist for as long as possible instead of trying to defeat the opponent. However, this would only make sense if the mist in question had some sort of effect that would be useful to Remilia. Throughout this entire fight, neither she nor Remilia had shown any change in strength due to the mist. Except for the visual impairment, the mist was harmless.]

[badladyscramble]

It's annoying.

[She ignores that challenge and keeps clawing at the jacket - unless there's anything reinforcing it's strength, her claws will make short work of the material]

Hmm, I don't think so. It's really more fun to watch you hop around trying to catch me, you know~ I think if I were it, the game of tag would be over too quickly.

[answerer_sword]

[The jacket has been reinforced by the runes, so it does not tear apart easily.]

In that case...

[She holds her hands up, as if in surrender.]

Then I will forfeit this "game".

[There is no better way to say it. This has all been a strange game. Even if there were anything dangerous going on, then the vampire was clealy not causing it. At most, she was a distraction.]

[badladyscramble]

Hmhm, of course it was inevitable~

Now take this thing off me.